Friday, October 16, 2015

Pumpkin Season (and EASY Pumpkin Cake Recipe)!

It's mid October and we're in full pumpkin season. The farms have Pick Your Own apples and pears, corn mazes and an abundant harvest of winter squashes, cabbage, kale, homemade jams and pies and so much more. We even have a new term, Pumpkin Traffic, which describes the stop-and-go that unsuspecting east-bound drivers passing through Water Mill encounter due to the wild popularity of Hank's PumpkinTown, which is located directly across the street from Duckwalk Winery. (If you're not packing children intent on visiting the wonderful playground at Hank's, ask us for the secret detour around this traffic jam.)

Anyway, with a little sadness, but also a sense of anticipation for sweaters, scarves, and boots (!), the rack on the back deck that during the summer held beach chairs got filled today with wood for the fireplace. The days are still lovely, with clear blue skies, no humidity, and a tighter range of temps between high and low (today, for example, the high was 62 degrees F, the low 54). Still, I expect the fireplace will inaugurate Late Fall at the Manor this weekend, with blazing logs crackling a cheery welcome to guests returning from their days in the cooler air.

Fall gives me the opportunity to cook with all things associated with autumn, like fresh apples and pears from the farms, cranberries, pumpkin and lots of cinnamon and cloves and nutmeg and ginger...Something I consider the epitome of autumn is a recipe I adapted after finding it first on the Weight Watchers website and since have seen all over Pinterest. I made it this week and four guests asked for the recipe. It's so unbelievably easy, and it's worth a share:

TWO INGREDIENT PUMPKIN CAKE

Yep, that's it, just those two ingredients. Don't add anything the cake box tells you to. Mix together, by hand or using a mixer until it comes together into a stiff batter. Spread into a greased 7"x 11" x 2" Pyrex pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Remove from oven. Cool in the pan 10 minutes or so.

Meanwhile make the glaze. (Ah, I cheated! I added a couple more ingredients!): Whisk together:

This is major-league yummy! (And for the Weight Watchers among us, it's 4 PP per piece. Worth it.)

Get your scarf and boots on, and come visit a corn maze followed by a wine tasting, while you watch the vineyards harvesting their bounty for coming years. I wish you a slice of Pumpkin Cake before a roaring fire!

Quote of the day: I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than to be crowded on a velvet cushion.---Henry David Thoreau

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About Us

A Butler's Manor is a bed and breakfast located in Southampton Village, New York, in the heart of the Hamptons. Our gracious 1860 Colonial house has five guest rooms and is listed on both the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. For more details, photos, or to check availability online, check our website at www.abutlersmanor.com